Many traders for Onitsha Main Market no show for their stalls on Monday, even after Governor Chukwuma Soludo order make shops reopen and warn against further closures, witnesses and officials report.
Many traders for Onitsha Main Market no show for their stalls on Monday, even after Governor Chukwuma Soludo order make shops reopen and warn against further closures, witnesses and officials report. Soludo don order one-week closure after traders continue to obey long-running “sit-at-home” directive, calling the practice “a criminal enterprise wey no get connection to the agitation” and promise strict action if shops still remain shut. “This main market, if you no wan open, I go come take bulldozer level am. You dey hear me? … I serious, serious about am,” Soludo warn. Earlier, market leaders tell the governor say dem ready make Monday trading resume if security improve. “We don resolve say we go dey open for full activities on Monday,” talk Chijioke Okpalugo, chairman of Onitsha Main Market, as e appeal for strong, visible, and continuous security presence. State officials also formally direct traders make dem return Monday, remind parents make dem send children go school, and confirm say pro-rata pay rules for absent civil servants still dey enforce to discourage absenteeism. Despite the order and heavy security at market gates, reports and videos show only limited activity, with “a few hopefuls” wey try come shop. An attendance list wey get only 17 names, linked to Gov. Soludo’s order, don circulate online, showing the tension between traders’ fears, defiance, and the state’s push to restore normal commerce.
